Van Report

Propex HS2000 Heater Installation

We’re about to take a long drive north to chase the snow. We look forward to it, but we’re worried that our Webasto heater might fail again and that prevents us from being super excited about this new chapter. First time our Webasto failed, it was 2 AM, outside temperature was -15F (-26C) and we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. No fun.

We planned this trip for so long and we want to enjoy it to the fullest. Let’s fix this once for all:

Webasto Heater

Webasto VS Propex Heater

Since carbon buildup is more likely to occur when the Webasto runs on “low”, we plan on using the Webasto for “boost” in the evening and in the morning, then use the Propex at the lowest setting during the day when we’re out there (to prevent the interior from freezing; the lowest setting keeps the van at around 3-5C (37-41F)). That’s the plan anyway; we will try and adjust.

Electrical System

Welcome to winter solstice! Days are short and the solar panels don’t generate as much power as they used to in summer… but with the help of the alternator, we manage to bring the charge of the battery back to 100% (or close) almost everyday.

Driveshaft Coupling Replacement

Transit owners, have you inspected your driveshaft coupling lately? Ours was replaced at 22k miles under warranty because we found 3 cracks on it.

Meanwhile don’t panic; just check your guibo periodically (it’s in between the front wheels, easy to spot)! If there is no crack, there is no need to replace it (unless you’re over 30k already)

Winter Preparation

Before heading north, there are a few things to do that will make our winter living easier:

1- INSTALLING THE SNOW CHAINS

Carrying snow chains is something we got really good at, but it would be wise to get better at putting them on! Indeed, it requires a little bit of practice and doing it under the Arizona winter is much more enjoyable than under the blizzard.

We consider snow chains a safety device rather than a gizmo, so we splurged on a set of high-quality Thule / Konig XG-12 PRO snow chains. With their patented system, they’re simple to install and don’t require to move the vehicle during installation, nice! Here is our “home-made” installation/removal guide along with our thoughts on them:

We got tired of emptying the 4 gallons grey water tank everyday, so we added a 2 way wye valve to route the water into the Aquatainer OR directly through the floor (we use biodegradable soap), depending on where we’re parked.

All the details (material/pros/cons/notes) are in the “Grey Water Tank” section of our Water System article:

O.K., the interior shower was tested and works, but we renamed it to “emergency” because it’s so much logistics that we would prefer not to use it. It’s been an interesting experiment, but there are a lot of downsides to it:
– The curtain takes forever to dry and uses a LOT of our space (we will probably have our winter gear drying too at the same time).
– It’s a 2 person job: 1 taking a shower, 1 activating the shower pump, giving the soap and shampoo to the other, etc.
– The pan drain works but we have to make sure the hose doesn’t raise higher than the pan or it will overfill.
– For now, the drain is routed through the side door; it’s fine here in Arizona, but in Canadian winter…

Tales from the Road

Fourth month traveled road:

Viva Las Vegas

We had the chance of having dinners with really nice people in Las Vegas and we were pleasantly surprised to find that there it is, in fact, a “normal” city with “normal” people outside the Strip. We also took the opportunity to assist to Cirque du Soleil “Mystère” show and it was really incredible!

Of course we visited the Strip:

We left and never came back. True story.

Boulder (Arizona)

While most people head to the Hover Dam after Vegas, we headed for Boulder AZ. There are some sweet lines here!

Antoine’s Top 5

Hiline starts as a mellow but steady climb on a ridge line; you will be rewarded with a magnificent view over Sedona. Enjoy the view and let go the brakes for a fast and flowy decent over slickrocks. Then get ready for three or four steep and technical sections. Note the words in bold in the previous sentence. In doubt, it’s OK to walk through these sections.

Isabelle’s Top 5

This trail got it all! It starts going up on a ridge that is just challenging enough, then it goes down on a sweet, fast, long slickrock to finish with a technical descent. Did I mentioned earlier I love technical challenges? This one is just perfect to push my limits! I could do it over and over again! Plus, the view is amazing at all time!

This trail can be ridden in both direction although it is most fun downhill! I think it worth doing the little detour to Submarine rock (on the way up, not to interrupt your descent!) just to look at Pink Jeeps going down the steep jeep trail; kind of impressive!

These two trails are just great to start with when arriving to Sedona; they are not super flowy nor particularly technical, but just fun to ride! Being on the slickrock of Mescal provides a nice view of the surrounding and I really enjoyed riding in Chuck Wagon forest (I don’t know if there are any similar forests, but this one seemed unique to me!).

Be aware, both trails can be very busy. We met A LOT of hikers all the way.

Let’s be honest, we’ve been riding in the desert for the past two months, it was just good to ride in a forest again 🙂 We worked hard to get on top, but it was rewarding (and no brainer) to ride down Sunset followed by Schultz Creek.

STAY IN TOUCH!

ABOUT US

Hello! We’re Isabelle and Antoine 🙂 In 2017 we sold our house (and everything in it), quit our engineering careers and moved into our self built campervan. We’ve been on the road since then and every day is an opportunity for a new adventure; we’re chasing our dreams and hopefully it inspires others to do the same!

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6 thoughts on “Fourth Month on the Road: Lessons Learned, Van Report, Tales from the Road”

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